26 
STATE AGKICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 
of the fa^m, the forge and the factory, harmoniously blended 
with the glad voices of the millions of a chastened but grateful 
and happy people, the more than million of men who, sud¬ 
denly returned from the fury and carnage of war, it was feared 
might too easily become demoralizers of society, and even dis¬ 
turbers of the peace, have thus quickly been absorbed in the 
whole population without other apparent inffluence than a 
quickening of its energies, the strengthening of its patriotism, 
and the increase of activity in every good work. 
It is needless to claim that in all these triumphs of peace 
and moral power, as well as in those of war, Wisconsin has 
proudly shared. No soldiers ever fought more heroically on 
the field of blood, or returned more quietly and gladly to their 
former useful pursuits. No men of work ever strove more 
nobly or successfully in the fields of industry than hers. 
In endeavoring to determine just what progress has been 
made by our State in the different branches of industry during 
the period under review, or indeed, during any period, the 
public economist is greatly embarrassed by the 
LACK OF FULL AND RELIABLE STATISTICS. 
On this head, the importance of which can hardly be over¬ 
estimated, we may be pardoned for speaking earnestly and 
pointedly. 
As a State, what have we really accomplished? What 
are we doing that might with greater economy be omit¬ 
ted ? And what are we failing to do that most of all needs to 
be done? These, certainly, are important questions—ques¬ 
tions that every State should be able to answer without hesi¬ 
tation and without guessing; especially every new State, since 
it is questions of this kind that are constantly being asked by 
prospective emigrants at the East and in the Old World, and 
since, moreover, the material of which the future State is to 
be moulded is then plastic to the touch of her statesmen. 
Figures, are usually considered dry reading ; but to one seek¬ 
ing information concerning a new country where he thinks of 
